1And Elisha said, "Hear the word of YHWH; thus says YHWH, 'About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"
2And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man (ish) of God and said, "Behold, if YHWH were making windows in the heavens, could this thing be?" And he said, "Behold, you are about to see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
3And four men (ish) were lepers at the entrance of the gate; and they said each man (ish) to his neighbor, "Why are we sitting here until we die?
4If we say, 'We will enter the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit here, we die also. So now, come, and let us fall to the camp of Aram; if they keep us alive, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall die."
5And they rose up in the twilight to go to the camp of Aram; and they came to the edge of the camp of Aram, and behold, there was no man (ish) there.
6And my Lord (Adonai) had made the camp of Aram to hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, a sound of a great force; and they said each man (ish) to his brother, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us."
7And they rose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys—the camp as it was—and fled for their soul (nephesh).
8And these lepers came to the edge of the camp, and they entered into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and garments, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered into another tent, and carried from there, and went and hid them.
9And they said each man (ish) to his neighbor, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good tidings, and we are keeping silent; if we wait until the morning light, iniquity will find us. So now, come, let us go and tell the house of the king."
10And they came and called to the gatekeeper of the city, and told them, saying, "We came to the camp of Aram, and behold, there was no man (ish) there, nor voice of man (adam), but the horse tied, and the donkey tied, and the tents as they were."
11And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it within the house of the king.
12And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, "Let me tell you now what Aram has done to us. They know that we are hungry, and they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive (chai), and we shall enter into the city.'"
13And one of his servants answered and said, "Let them take now five of the horses that remain, which are left in it—behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel that have perished—and let us send and see."
14And they took two chariots of horses, and the king sent after the camp of Aram, saying, "Go and see."
15And they went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16And the people went out and plundered the camp of Aram. And a seah of fine flour was for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of YHWH.
17And the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned over the gate; and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man (ish) of God had spoken, who spoke when the king came down to him.
18And it came to pass, as the man (ish) of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria";
19and the captain had answered the man (ish) of God and said, "And behold, if YHWH were making windows in the heavens, could it be according to this thing?" And he said, "Behold, you are about to see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it";
20and so it came to pass to him; and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.